Meryl recently opened up about her and Hugh‘s love in the film and how it should not be dismissed in spite of the infidelities.

“I think especially, peering into other people’s relationships, it’s almost always not what you think it is from the outside, and I think it’s an accurate portrayal of realistic, delusional love,” Meryl explained (via CBS News). “It’s realistic because it is what it is and there is illusion and they both prop up… in this bubble of happiness.”

“I mean one of the genius things that Stephen did that’s embedded in the film is even in the margins, you feel the warmth,” Meryl added. “There’s so many analogies to now, figuring out what makes life worth living. Love and art, as far as I’m concerned, is right smack in the middle. So the compromises that people make to keep their happiness intact — I think that’s all in the service of good.”

Hugh Dancy and co-star Nina Arianda attend the after party for Venus in Fur on Tuesday (February 7) at the Muse Hotel in New York City.

Earlier in the evening, the 36-year-old British actor took the stage at the Lyceum Theatre for the play’s reopening performance.

Venus in Fur centers around “Vanda (Arianda), a preternaturally talented young actress determined to land the lead in Thomas’ (Dancy) new play based on the classic erotic novel [of the same name]. Vanda’s emotionally charged audition for the gifted but demanding playwright/director becomes an electrifying game of cat and mouse that blurs the lines between fantasy and reality, seduction and power, love and sex.”